Los Angeles Kings forward Matt Roy. second from left, celebrates his goal with teammates during the second period of an NHL hockey game against Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, April 6, 2019, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

The Kings won their last game under Stevens and two of their last three.

“So it caught me a little bit off-guard,” Kopitar said. “I can see why Blakey (GM Rob Blake) had to react. Was it too early?”

He said “maybe” it was. But he wouldn’t say things would have been different had Stevens been allowed to continue.

Stevens was replaced by Willie Desjardins, who did not fare any better, and he was gone Sunday, the day after the season ended. That’s three coaches in two seasons, including Darryl Sutter, who preceded Stevens and led the Kings to their two titles.

Whether early-season knee injuries to goalies Jonathan Quick and Jack Campbell or forward Dustin Brown’s broken finger that kept him out the first 10 games, or just overall poor execution, little went right.

The statistics tell a story. The Kings were second-to-last in goals scored at 2.43 per game, their power-play success rate of 15.9 percent was 27th out of 31 teams and their penalty-kill success rate of 76.6 percent was 29th.

That’s not to mention the Kings – long known for great defense – gave up 3.16 goals per game. Only nine teams allowed more. For perspective, the Kings allowed a league-low 2.46 goals in 2017-18.

This all becomes contagious. Kopitar, for example, had a career-high 92 points last season. He led the team with just 60 this season.

Forward Ilya Kovalchuk, signed over the summer to a three-year free-agent contract, started strongly but finished meekly, even getting a few healthy scratches down the stretch.

All-Star defenseman Drew Doughty played to a team-worst minus-34 ratio, which demonstrates just how badly things went for the team.

Besides not making the playoffs, one of the results of the season-long struggles was the trading away of popular players like defenseman Jake Muzzin and forward Tanner Pearson.

Others traded in an effort to garner more draft picks – the Kings will have a total of 10 when the draft comes in June – were defenseman Oscar Fantenberg and forwards Nate Thompson and Carl Hagelin.

What went right

Not much, but the Kings did get long looks at several rookies. Perhaps the most impressive of the crop was forward Austin Wagner. He showed he is more than a speed merchant by scoring 12 goals and doling out nine assists for 21 points while averaging just 8:55 of time-on-ice in 62 games.

“Limited minutes, but was able to score goals,” Blake said of Wagner at Monday’s exit meetings.

First-year defensemen Matt Roy and Sean Walker also showed well, as did second-year defenseman and tough guy Kurtis MacDermid, who came up late in the season and made his presence felt.

Interestingly, Blake was most impressed this season by the play of fourth-line forward Kyle Clifford. He had a career-best 11 goals and 21 points. He also stuck up for his teammates, getting into a team-high six fights.

A 2009 second-round draft pick by the Kings, Clifford, 28, seemed to be the hardest worker on the team, in practice and in games.

“He makes plays, he tries to make plays, he works hard and he was emotionally involved every game,” Blake said. “He was our best player every night.”

Offseason priorities

The Kings need to bring in players who not only are fast to align with today’s game, but players with the ability to develop a chemistry within their respective offensive or defensive lines.

With Roy and Walker now with 25 and 39 NHL games under their respective belts, chances are their games will be even more advanced next season. With defensemen Doughty, Alec Martinez and Derek Forbort still in the fold, the Kings seemingly should be looking more at forwards who can also play responsible defense.

Certainly, the Kings seem set at goalie. Even if the Kings were to trade Quick, Campbell has proved he is ready to be a No. 1 NHL goalie. And Cal Petersen showed earlier this season he can play at this level as well.

Quick, 33, had a career-high 3.38 goals-against-average this season. The team did not play well in front of him. Still, he admittedly wasn’t the goalie he had been the previous 11 seasons; he has a career GAA of 2.36.

“I wasn’t good enough,” he said Monday. “Just disappointed in what I was able to contribute.”

Contract matters

The Kings have four players who are restricted free agents – forwards Alex Iafallo, Adrian Kempe and Brendan Leipsic and defenseman Roy – and one unrestricted free agent in forward Jonny Brodzinski.

The season after that, the Kings will have six unrestricted free agents – forwards Tyler Toffoli, Trevor Lewis and Clifford, defensemen Forbort and Paul LaDue and goalie Campbell – and four restricted in forwards Carl Grundstrom and Wagner and defensemen Walker and MacDermid.

Kopitar is signed through 2023-24, Dustin Brown through 2021-22 and Doughty through 2024-25.

Coaching search

Blake said Monday he is on the hunt for his new coach. He would not provide names. Current assistant Marco Sturm, who was brought in when Desjardins was hired, is thought to be a candidate. But Blake would prefer someone with NHL head-coaching experience, and Sturm is void of that.

Another rumored replacement is former Edmonton Oilers coach Todd McLellan, who was fired 20 games into the season.

Who could help

Being that so many Kings forwards are getting older – Kopitar is 31, Brown is 34, Kovalchuk will be 36 Monday and Jeff Carter is 34 – the Kings could use some younger players there.

The best available via the free-agent market will be Artemi Panarin of Columbus. He had a team-high 87 points this season on 28 goals and 58 assists, and he’s just 27.

Then there is the draft. The Kings entered Tuesday’s draft lottery to determine the order of selections knowing they had a 13.5 percent change to get the top pick, which would presumably be forward Jack Hughes.

Blake said Monday even if they don’t get to pick first, the players expected to go top five are all good and the Kings were guaranteed of nothing worse than the fifth pick overall.